Chapter 2.
How King Arthur became lost in the forest and overcame the Night Enchanter, and how Sir Gawain finally became a noble knight.
Some time after this, King Arthur himself craved some adventure.
As Queen Guinevere and her court were away in Carleon, it was a good time to go.
Taking only a favorite esquire, Boisenard, with him, he set off.
After getting lost for a while in a very dark wood, the two came upon a great but grim castle.
A light was on inside, and when they knocked, a porter appeared.
We are a worthy but weary knight and esquire, Arthur said.
May we take shelter here tonight?
If you know what is good for you, the porter replied, you will sleep in the woods.
No good comes to knights who seek shelter here.
This made King Arthur curious, and he insisted upon coming inside.
The porter led Arthur and Boisenard into a room where a lively party was taking place.
An old knight sat at the head of the table.
He had a white beard and a broad chest.
Around his neck, he wore a chain of gold with a locket attached.
He invited the men to eat.
For dessert, the old knight invited the men to play a game.
In a contest of courage, he explained, each competitor would try to cut off the other's head.
That seems like a strange sport, Arthur said, and everyone in the room burst out laughing as though in on some shared secret.
Are you afraid? the old knight asked.
Arthur angrily replied that he was afraid of nothing and against Boisenard's pleas, he agreed to play.
As he was the guest, the old knight insisted that Arthur must swing the sword first.
Still angry but satisfied to be going first, Arthur drew Excalibur, swung, and with remarkable ease lopped off the old knight's head.
Well, that's that, he said, thinking that he had won.
But, to his surprise, instead of falling, the body of the old knight walked calmly over to where his head had landed, picked it up and placed it right back on top, where it was as good as new.
My turn to swing, the old knight said, and everyone watching laughed again.
The old knight swung once and then twice, but each time stopped just short of hitting Arthur's head.
He moved his sword slowly a few more times, pressing the tip just slightly into the skin of Arthur's neck before stopping.
"'Cut off my head if you're going to,' Arthur said, "'but torture me no longer.'
I will do something else entirely, the old knight cried.
I will spare your life for a year and a day.
If you promise to come back at that time for your beheading, Arthur promised.
And I will spare your life again.
At that time, the old knight added if you can give me the answer to the following riddle
What is it that a woman desires most? in the world.
Arthur sighed.
Now the old knight was really torturing him, for who knew what women really wanted?
Was it wealth?
Beauty?
Pretty things?
The power to please?
Nevertheless making Boissonnard promise that Guinevere was not to be told, he agreed to the challenge.
A year passed in which, despite asking almost every woman he had come across during that time, Arthur felt himself no closer to knowing what women wanted.
Still, as promised, he set out grimly to return to the old knight's castle in his possible death.
Just before he reached the castle however, Arthur came across an old woman living in a hut built into a mossy oak tree.
The poor thing was horribly wrinkled and ugly, with filmy, eyes and ears that flapped and only one tooth left in her mouth.
Still, Arthur greeted her politely and made one final attempt at getting the answer to his riddle.
"'I know the answer,' the old woman said, "'but I will only tell it to you on one condition.
'If I guess right, You must promise me that I may choose any knight in your court to become my husband.
Arthur hesitated, not sure that he could make that promise for another man.
However, realizing that the only other choice was his death and that his noble knights would do anything to prevent that, he agreed.
That which a woman most desires is to have her will, the old woman said.
She also told him that the old knight was an evil magician who had played this game with many men and who was able to win every time because of the magical gold locket around his neck.
When his head fell off, his life went safely into that locket.
That was the secret behind the trick.
When Arthur got to the old knight's castle, the first thing he did was recite the old woman's answer to the riddle word for word.
The old knight blinked, and Arthur knew the answer was right.
The next thing Arthur did was to reach out and take hold of the magical gold chain and lock it.
Now old knight Arthur said perhaps we can play another game in which you give me this chain and lock it around your neck.
Arthur pulled hard.
The chain broke and the locket opened, revealing a shining ball of crystal that held the old knight's life.
Arthur flung the crystal ball roughly onto the ground where it broke.
At this, the evil old magician broke as well, finally falling down dead.
Arthur was eager to get home.
Stopping at the old tree hut, he gently gathered up the old woman and set her carefully on the horse in front of him.
At all times during the trip, he treated her with the greatest respect, as though she were a beautiful young queen instead of an old woman.
When he arrived home, everyone watched in silent confusion as Arthur told of how the old woman had saved his life and about the promise he had made her in return.
"'Was I right to make that promise?' he asked the knights who stood before him.
All of the loyal knights who were present told him that he was.
Upon hearing this, the old woman looked at the knights over for a while before lifting a bony finger and selecting Sir Gawain to be her husband.
As all watched sadly, Gawain walked up to the old woman, took her hand, and pressed it to his lips.
The old woman was taken and dressed up in clothes fit for a queen which, in the minds of all who saw her so, made her look even uglier.
The old woman and Sir Gawain were then married in the church of King Arthur's Court.
While he was doing his best to do his duty, the proud Gawain secretly suffered.
After the ceremony, Gawain went into his room and stayed there, wanting to be left alone.
By nightfall, however, he realized that he was behaving badly and being rude to his new wife.
He went to find her and to apologize.
"'I accept your apology,' she said.
Oh, it is so dark in this room.
Why don't you go get a light?
Gawain returned carrying a candle.
But when he approached her and the circle of light fell on her face, he saw before him not the old woman he had married, but a lady of great beauty with long black hair, eyes like black jewels and lips like coral.
Whew!
Gawain gasped.
I am your wife, she replied.
I was only old and ugly because a spell had been cast upon me, but your kindness in marrying me has set me halfway free.
Halfway?
Gawain asked.
I must still remain old and ugly for half the day, but I shall let you choose what half.
Gawain replied that he did not care what others thought during the day and that he would prefer that she was her real beautiful self at night, when alone with him.
But his wife replied that she would rather be beautiful during the day so as not to have people laughing at her.
Well then, so be it, Gawain replied.
You are my wife, and I respect you.
You shall have your will in this and all other things.
His wife laughed, admitting that she had only been giving him one last test and that he had passed wonderfully.
She explained that she had been one of the ladies of the lake, but that she had loved him since watching him bid goodbye to Serpelius, and that for his sake, she had become human.
Gawain invited everyone in the court to come and to bring lights and refreshments.
When they arrived, they were overjoyed to learn what had happened and to meet Gawain's true new wife.
So, let this be a lesson to you.
Just as Gawain's wife at first appeared to him to be something awful, so often does one's duty.
But once one has committed himself to his duty, as a groom does with patience to his bride, then so often does that duty become beautiful.
I do pray that you may find yourself as worthy of your duty and as happy as Sir Gawain.
Another time I shall tell you the story of some other excellent knights.
But for now, I bid you goodbye.
